Hokkaido, Machine City.
Kujo Yuri pushed open the door, looking radiant, like a flower refreshed by the rain.
"The weather's so nice today!"
She looked up at the clear, cloudless sky, then turned back toward the house and said, "Hayato, the Trade Association is about to start. Let's go."
A hesitant voice came from inside. "This... doesn't feel right..."
"Oh, what's wrong with it? You don't have to work at the Government Building today anyway."
"N-no, I can't. What if I run into someone I know? I'd never be able to show my face again."
"You used to wear it all the time. What are you afraid of?"
No matter how much Kujo Yuri tried to persuade him, Sato Hayato refused to come out.
In the end, Kujo Yuri simply grabbed his hand and dragged him outside.
A stunningly beautiful young woman stood in the doorway. She had long, straight, silky black hair, snow-white skin, and long lashes framing her big eyes.
She wore a pleated princess dress that showed off her long, slender legs, along with white thigh-high stockings that many women would struggle to pull off.
"Hayato—no, I should call you Hayako now. You look absolutely beautiful."
At Kujo Yuri's insistence, Sato Hayako had put on women's clothes again.
But she hadn't exactly been opposed to it, either.
Today was the day of the trade exhibition in Machine City.
A large number of merchants from Honshu Island in Area 11 had brought samples across the strait to Machine City.
The Iron-Cast Palace had also arranged for the monsters to bring plenty of local specialties to the city.
The Trade Association had come about mainly because Kanzaki Rin had misjudged the size of the monster kingdom's market.
She had thought Machine City alone would be enough to corner